


Man Among Men

by Lavanya_Six



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Canon Compliant, Gen, Missing Scene, Tentacles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-07-28
Updated: 2012-07-28
Packaged: 2017-11-10 22:33:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 383
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/471424
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lavanya_Six/pseuds/Lavanya_Six
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Pakku deals with having a girl in the boy's club.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Man Among Men

Pakku stood before his newly swollen class. Boys and men alike had shown up for the refresher course. Many of them were fresh from the Healing Huts, sporting shiny patches of skin from newly healed burns. The siege had left his people with many scars; some of them were even physical.

"The Octopus Form is among the most versatile techniques in waterbending," Pakku began, reciting a lecture that he had given for decades, "and is perhaps the hardest form to master. It took me until my thirties before I was capable of using each of the eight tentacles for independent action simultaneously. Despite the difficulty, the Octopus Form is well worth the effort. Any enemy foolish enough to attack a master of it fights eight waterbenders in one body. Before we commence with a demonstration, a word of... um..."

It was at that point that Pakku remembered two important facts. First, that his prize student, Katara, was standing front-and-center. Second, that Katara was a girl.

Pakku believed that if Katara was good enough to train with the men, she was good enough to be treated like a man. It was almost possible to squint and make himself believe she was an overly feminine boy, she was that much of a natural at waterbending's male forms.

But...

Katara wasn't. She was a she.

And while his prize student would be a true master of the art before she inevitably gave it up to be a mother to her future children, Pakku wasn't naïve. Girls were just as liable as boys to abuse the Octopus Form. That didn't mean he had to _like_ giving this talk to a girl.

Pakku sighed. 'Necessity' really was the dirtiest word.

"Before we commence with the demonstration, a word of warning: we are not earthbenders who can exploit our talents to deviant ends. _Water is **not** a lubricant_. So if any of you idiots are thinking about showing off the Octopus Form to your girlfriend or fiancee, please understand that they will not be your girlfriend or fiancee for long, nor will you be welcomed warmly at the Healing Huts when you have to carry her in for emergency treatment."

The class tittered with embarrassed laughter. If Katara blushed, Pakku didn't know. The sky overhead was suddenly very interesting.


End file.
